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A teenage couple found dead in a lake after a bush party near Prince George, B.C., over the weekend was asleep when bystanders made a futile effort to stop the SUV the two were in from rolling into the water, says a relative of the 19-year-old boy who died.

Teen couple died in B.C.'s Kwitzil Lake after witnesses injured trying to prevent vehicle from entering water

Kendall Moore, one of the two teens who died on the weekend after a bush party in B.C., loved horses and dressing up in cowboy boots, according to a close friend. Moore and her boyfriend, Craig Wood, drowned after their vehicle entered Kwitzil Lake on the weekend. (Facebook)

A teenage couple found dead in a lake after a bush party near Prince George, B.C., over the weekend was asleep when bystanders made a futile effort to stop the SUV the two were in from rolling into the water, says a relative of the 19-year-old boy who died.

Craig Wood, 19, was attending an after-grad bush party Saturday night at Kwitzil Lake with his girlfriend before their vehicle entered the lake shortly after 4 a.m. PT Sunday. (Facebook)

Trish Howard says her nephew, Craig Wood, had been attending his 17-year-old girlfriend Kendall Moore's after-grad party at Kwitzil Lake, located on the side of Highway 16, about 40 kilometres west of the city.

"They were both inside the vehicle, apparently sleeping, when the vehicle began a slow roll towards the lake," says Howard in a statement emailed to media.

"This was seen by people in the vicinity, and several people made heroic efforts to try to stop the progress down to the lake. Some of those people were injured in their attempts to save them. We thank them deeply and cannot begin to express our gratitude for their kind efforts."

Howard says police told the family the vehicle, a 1994 GMC Jimmy, came to rest in about six metres of extremely cold water and members of the RCMP dive team were wearing thermal gear in addition to their regular dive gear because the water was so frigid.